Publications
This list of Water Resources Mission Area publications includes both official USGS publications and journal articles authored by our scientists. A searchable database of all USGS publications can be accessed at the USGS Publications Warehouse.
Filter Total Items: 18418
Groundwater residence times in glacial aquifers—A new general simulation-model approach compared to conventional inset models
Groundwater is important as a drinking-water source and for maintaining base flow in rivers, streams, and lakes. Groundwater quality can be predicted, in part, by its residence time in the subsurface, but the residence-time distribution cannot be measured directly and must be inferred from models. This report compares residence-time distributions from four areas where groundwater flow and travel t
Authors
J. Jeffrey Starn, Leon J. Kauffman, Daniel T. Feinstein
Flood-inundation maps for an 8-mile reach of Papillion Creek near Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, 2022
Digital flood-inundation maps for an 8-mile reach of Papillion Creek near Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, were created by the U.S. Geological Survey (USGS) in cooperation with the U.S. Air Force, Offutt Air Force Base. The flood-inundation maps, which can be accessed through the USGS Flood Inundation Mapping Program website at https://www.usgs.gov/mission-areas/water-resources/science/flood-inund
Authors
Kellan R. Strauch, Christopher M. Hobza
Estimating streamflow permanence with the watershed erosion prediction project model: Implications for surface water presence modeling and data collection
Many data collection efforts and modeling studies have focused on providing accurate estimates of streamflow while fewer efforts have sought to identify when and where surface water is present and the duration of surface water presence in stream channels, hereafter referred to as streamflow permanence. While physically-based hydrological models are frequently used to explore how water quantity may
Authors
Konrad Hafen, Kyle W. Blasch, Paul E. Gessler, Jason B. Dunham, Erin Brooks
Source contributions to suspended sediment and particulate selenium export from the Loutsenhizer Arroyo and Sunflower Drain watersheds in Colorado
Selenium in aquatic ecosystems of the lower Gunnison River Basin in Colorado is affecting the recovery of populations of endangered, native fish species. Dietary exposure is the primary pathway for bioaccumulation of selenium in fish, and particulate selenium can be consumed directly by fish or by the invertebrates on which fish feed. Although selenium can be incorporated into particulate matter v
Authors
Carleton R. Bern, Cory A. Williams, Christopher G. Smith
Effects of a large flood on sediment and turbidity reduction projects in the Esopus Creek watershed, NY
On December 24-25, 2020, 7.3 to 14.6 cm of rain fell on a large snowpack in the upper Esopus Creek (UEC) watershed in the Catskill Mountains of New York. The resulting flood had an annual exceedance probability (AEP) of 4 to 20% (recurrence intervals of 25 to 5 years) in streams across the watershed, resulted in substantial geomorphic adjustments in some stream channels, and transported the highes
Authors
Jason Siemion, Wae D. Davis, Donald B. Bonville
Viewing river corridors through the lens of critical zone science
River corridors integrate the active channels, geomorphic floodplain and riparian areas, and hyporheic zone while receiving inputs from the uplands and groundwater and exchanging mass and energy with the atmosphere. Here, we trace the development of the contemporary understanding of river corridors from the perspectives of geomorphology, hydrology, ecology, and biogeochemistry. We then summarize c
Authors
Adam Wymore, Adam Ward, Ellen Wohl, Judson Harvey
Coupled upstream-downstream geomorphic responses to deep reservoir drawdowns at Fall Creek Dam, Oregon
No abstract available.
Authors
Mackenzie K. Keith, J. Rose Wallick, Laurel E. Stratton Garvin, Gabriel W. Gordon
Water quality at Chaco Culture National Historical Park and the potential effects of hydrocarbon extraction
Study regionChaco Culture National Historical Park (CCNHP) is in the San Juan Basin of northwestern New Mexico, U.S.A. Its only water supply is in Gallup Sandstone aquifer, stratigraphically surrounded by layers long targeted for oil and natural gas extraction.Study focusTo assess groundwater flow direction, age, mixing between aquifers, and whether hydrocarbons extraction may affect water quality
Authors
Benjamin S. Linhoff, Kimberly R. Beisner, Andrew Hunt, Zachary M. Shephard
FloPy workflows for creating structured and unstructured MODFLOW models
FloPy is a popular Python package for creating, running, and post-processing MODFLOW-based groundwater flow and transport models. FloPy functionality has expanded to support the latest version of MODFLOW (MODFLOW 6) including support for unstructured grids. FloPy can be used to download MODFLOW-based and other executables for Linux, MacOS, and Windows operating systems, which simplifies the proces
Authors
Joseph D. Hughes, Christian D. Langevin, Scott R. Paulinski, Joshua Larsen, David Brakenhoff
Integrated water resources trend assessments: State of the science, challenges, and opportunities for advancement
Water is vital to human life and healthy ecosystems. Here we outline the current state of national-scale water resources trend assessments, identify key gaps, and suggest advancements to better address critical issues related to changes in water resources that may threaten human development or the environment. Questions like, “Do we have less suitable drinking water now than we had 20 years ago?”
Authors
Sarah M. Stackpoole, Gretchen P. Oelsner, Edward G. Stets, Jory Seth Hecht, Zachary Johnson, Anthony J. Tesoriero, Michelle A. Walvoord, Jeffrey G. Chanat, Krista A. Dunne, Phillip J. Goodling, Bruce D. Lindsey, Michael Meador, Sarah Spaulding
Satellite precipitation bias estimation and correction using in situ observations and climatology isohyets for the MENA region
The availability of reliable gridded precipitation datasets is limited around the world, especially in arid regions. In this study, we utilized observations from satellite-based precipitation data and in situ rain gauge observations to determine a suitable precipitation dataset in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. First, we evaluated seven different precipitation products using rain ga
Authors
Stefanie Kagone, Naga Manohar Velpuri, Kul Bikram Khand, Gabriel B. Senay, Michael R. Van der Valk, Daniel J. Goode, Salam Abu Hantash, Thair M. Al-Momani, Nanor Momejian, Jack R. Eggleston
Comparative toxicity of two neonicotinoid insecticides at environmentally relevant concentrations to telecoprid dung beetles
Dung beetles (Coleoptera: Scarabaeinae) frequently traverse agricultural matrices in search of ephemeral dung resources and spend extended periods of time burrowing in soil. Neonicotinoids are among the most heavily applied and widely detected insecticides used in conventional agriculture with formulated products designed for row crop and livestock pest suppression. Here, we determined the compara
Authors
Michael C. Cavallaro, Michelle Hladik, Samantha Hittson, Greg Middleton, W. Wyatt Hoback